SEATTLE  Padres catcher Yasmani Grandal is immediately being inserted into the starting lineup with the end of his 50-game suspension for a failed performance-enhancing drug test. Grandal will be behind the plate and batting sixth in the order in Tuesday night's game against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field.

"I'm glad I'm starting to catch Volkie again," said Grandal, referring to Padres starting pitcher Edinson Volquez. "I caught him in Cincinnati (before both came to the Padres in trade), caught him here. It just seems like we really clicked, like he's real comfortable when I'm out there behind the plate."

Asked before the game about the difficulty of carrying around the stigma of a failed drug test and suspension, Grandal said his return to the Padres is what it's all about for him.

"There's no difficulty," said Grandal. "You're in the major leagues, having another opportunity to prove yourself, to prove to your team that you belong here. There's no baggage that you carry around. At the end of the day, you're still playing."

Does he feel he has to prove himself?

"Prove to who?" he asked.

Padres fans?

"No, not really," said Grandal. "If I've got to prove anything, it's to the Padres, and fans need to understand that. My job comes first. The Padres are the ones wh had me in the major leagues and they're the ones who make the decision to have me up or down. So, do I have something to prove? Yeah, to the Padres."

Grandal, whose positive test for testosterone was revealed after the end of last season, was able to work out with the Padres in spring training and even take part in Cactus League games. Once the regular season began, though, he could not be in the clubhouse once it was opened to the media.

"From the offseason to spring training, (time) went by slow," said Grandal. "As soon as we got done with spring training, actually, it went by quick. Next thing I knew I was in Iowa."

Des Moines, that is, the Pacific Coast League stop where Grandal joined the Tucson Padres to get ready for his return to the majors.

The fact that Grandal is a switch-hitter likely entered into the decision to have him start immediately upon return, since veteran catcher Nick Hundley is right-handed and Seattle is starting righty pitcher Brandon Maurer, against whom left-hander hitters are batting .363 this season.

At the same time, Hundley has been far more effective against righties this season, batting .297, producing all three of his home runs and 12 of his 13 runs batted in against them. Hundley had cooled off from a strong April in the first couple weeks of May, but he's currently on a five-game hitting streak.

"It's not nerves; it's more being excited," said Grandal, asked about his feelings about rejoining the club. "There'll be more when we get back to San Diego and play in front of the home crowd. But, no, not nervous. Excited."